As stated in the charter of the InterCounty Wrestling League, a group of coaches wished to initiate a program where young people of various ages would have numerous opportunities to compete at a level comparable with their experience and ability and to encourage their continued participation in the sport of wrestling. At that time, large organizations were sponsoring wrestling in leagues for participants between the ages of 8-12 and fixed weights classes which had to be either filled with a wrestler or forfeited. It was difficult for a small team to compete on this basis and the league that was envisioned was one that would wrestle for team score only in those weights which could be filled by both teams. The remainder of the wrestlers engaged in exhibition matches. After several years of operating in this way, it appeared that keeping team scores interfered with maximizing the amount of wrestling, and a decision was made to keep a team score only when both teams agreed to it. As clubs grew larger, most teams waived the morning weigh-in in order to maximize the time available for wrestling.

The event that created a desire for a league tournament was an invitation to wrestle an All-Star meet in Fairfield, Virginia in 1979. Picking this team was very difficult and required much discussion. Eventually, wrestle-offs were held for weight classes for which there was no consensus as representative. Despite the difficulties, a team was chosen which wrestled an All-Star team from Virginia and one from Maryland in both scholastic and free-style matches. League members expected to continue participating in this kind of tournament and it was clear that a better way of selecting a team was required. In reality, the league participated in only one more All-Star meet. That was a meet with the Bux-Mont league the following year after the scheduled meet with Virginia and Maryland fell through. The next year, a team from New York planned to visit the area, but details could not be worked out. The tradition of providing T-shirts to the top wrestlers in the league began with the first All-Star match.

The first league tournament was not held until 1981 as the established tournaments of the time were concerned with severing long-standing relationships with teams not in the league and, of course, the fear that there would be too few participants to result in a successful tournament. The North Penn Panthers decided to take a chance on this tournament instead of their very successful open tournament and submitted a proposal to the league for special weight classes for first year wrestlers, novice classes, in order to increase participation. The league sanctioned this proposal and the tournament was an immediate success. In later years, participation grew to the point where it was difficutl for one club to handle the numbers involved and this resulted in the present situation of two separate tournaments. An attempt at a sectional-district concept was made one year but was deemed uncuccessful. As the league continues to grow, this idea might be re-examined.

The formation of the league was spearheaded by Miles Burrell of Norristown, the first league President, and Jeff Zackon of the Lansdale YMCA. Other teams involved were:Great Valley, with Ed Greenman a prominent representative and league president for several years; Lionville, represented by Clair Koser; Springfield, represented by Doug Beacher; Aldan Boys Club; Warminster; Lansdowne Boys Club; and Upper Merion. Many new teams were added each year and the league membership eventually reached its current size. Several teams have dropped out of the league for various reasons over the years and the current 30+ represent near equilibrium.